Atlas Map: the World of Helevos

[Robulous]

After my last post I realised I never actually posted this world map of Helevos as finished!



Helevos is the setting for a collection of stories I've written over the years called The Virid & the Green. They're set in the "Civilised World", consisting of the island continent and surrounding archipelagoes. It is populated with human civilisation and the "green kingdom", the ecology of human-friendly plants and animals which make human life possible. The rest of the world, and much of the wilder regions of the Civilised World, is "virid" - so called because of the noxious plantlife with its sickly green hue. Human history has always been a struggle between the virid and the green.

Helevos is also subject to a cycle of dramatic rise and fall in sea level, over a period of tens of thousands of years, which either swamps coastal civilisations or leaves them stranded inland. The world is currently at the high-water mark, a period of flourishing civilisation following the drowning of successive earlier societies. Earliest of these was the Godmen, a mythic society said to have descended from the stars and created all the wonders of creation.

The world has two Great Powers - Harthera, an early-industrial maritime empire with a powerful navy, and the vast nation of Orror, a theocracy defended by its priest-sorcerors who wield seemingly divine powers, largely benevolent but considered decadent by the aggressively progressive Hartherans.

Based on hand drawn maps, further developed in Fractal Terrains and Photoshop.

See also:
- original WIP thread
- a more historic, Renaissance style map of the world
- more detailed map of Anasthias
- album of all my published Helevos maps

[Ilanthar]

Well done and interesting, Robulous . I really like this kind of layout for world maps.

[Robulous]

Thanks! Yes I got inspiration from someone else using this kind of style on here, I forget who!

I'm guessing from the lack of comments it's not the most exciting map - maybe I'll try another version with more topographical details like in my earlier WIP versions.

[Sapiento]

Very good! Which program did you use for the projection?

[ThomasR]

Ancient layout with modern and pretty elegant skin, I really love what you did here ! I'll sure try and emulate it, thanks for sharing

[Mouse]

I don't think its un-exciting!

You've done a great job of the composition across the two pages, and the land shapes are very convincing.

I was a bit confused by the 'Earth perspective' taken in the first paragraph, where you describe the system as being 'part of a distant binary system'. It didn't feel right for a publication that is presumably home-grown on Helevos.

I'm probably just being a bit dumb!

[Robulous]

I don't think its un-exciting!

Ha I'm just being needy

I was a bit confused by the 'Earth perspective' taken in the first paragraph, where you describe the system as being 'part of a distant binary system'

You are spot on there Mouse - I'll confess I cut and pasted some text from elsewhere to fill the space and didn't rethink it properly. One way I've definitely matured during my time in the Guild is always considering a) who created this map? and b) for the creator, what is the map for?

So you're right I'll have to rewrite a lot of the text. I had a sudden inspiration of turning this into an extract from a "Children's Atlas of Helevos", which would be a reason for explaining things which would otherwise be obvious to most people.

[J.Edward]

I think it looks really good Rob, but then your maps always are.
You are just being needy.

[Robulous]

I think it looks really good Rob, but then your maps always are.
You are just being needy.

Blush, thankyou!

Very good! Which program did you use for the projection?

I'm using Fractal Terrains with an orthographic project then a lot more work in Photoshop. I tinkered with GProjector but am more familiar with FT.